Butterflies in Greece
Greece has about 235 butterfly species, one of the four or five richest faunas in Europe, packed into a country of limestone mountains, Mediterranean scrub and more than 200 inhabited islands. It has more endemic butterflies than almost any other European country, most of them on Crete and in the mountains of the Peloponnese and the north, and it sits on the crossroads between Europe, Anatolia and Africa, so migrants such as the Painted Lady, Plain Tiger and Long-tailed Blue arrive every year. The Two-tailed Pasha, Scarce Swallowtail, Cleopatra and Southern White Admiral are the butterflies most visitors notice first.
On this page
- Butterflies found in Greece
- Butterflies of Greece at a glance
- Signature Greek butterflies
- The Greek butterfly calendar
- Where to see butterflies in Greece
- Host plants and butterfly gardening in Greece
- Rare and threatened butterflies in Greece
- Migrants, vagrants and the doubtful names
- Frequently asked questions
Butterflies of Greece at a glance
Greece packs about 235 butterfly species into a country smaller than England and Scotland together, and the reason is relief. Sea-level phrygana and olive groves give way within a few kilometres to oak and beech forest, and then to limestone summits of 2,000 to 2,900 m on Olympus, the Pindus, the Rhodopes, Parnassos, Chelmos and Taygetos, each holding its own alpine butterflies. Crete and the Aegean islands have been isolated long enough to evolve their own species, and the river forests of the north-east hold Balkan and Anatolian butterflies that reach no further west.
The brush-footed butterflies account for nearly 100 species, and it is the browns, the graylings, ringlets, heaths and marbled whites, that give the Greek fauna its character: more than a dozen Hipparchia and Pseudochazara graylings alone, several of them found nowhere else. The blues, coppers and hairstreaks are almost as rich, with a bewildering set of anomalous blues in the mountains. Nine swallowtails and festoons, 25 whites and sulphurs, a single metalmark, the Duke of Burgundy, and 28 skippers complete the list.
Signature Greek butterflies
The Two-tailed Pasha is the butterfly of the Mediterranean coast: a big, fast, chestnut-and-cream Charaxes, the only member of a tropical genus in Europe, whose caterpillars feed on strawberry tree and whose adults ignore flowers in favour of rotting figs and wine. The Scarce Swallowtail is common in every olive grove and almond orchard, and the Old World Swallowtail patrols hilltops from the islands to the summits. The Apollo lives above 1,000 m on Olympus, the Pindus and the Rhodope mountains; its relatives the Clouded Apollo, Eastern and Southern Festoons and the False Apollo of Thrace and the eastern islands are spring butterflies of March to May, and the Cretan Festoon is found only on Crete.
The familiar garden butterflies of northern Europe are here too: the Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Comma and Map in the north and the mountains, the Cleopatra and Brimstone along every woodland edge, and the Southern White Admiral, the Mediterranean cousin of the White Admiral, in scrub with honeysuckle. Along the rivers of Macedonia and Thrace fly the Purple Emperor, Lesser Purple Emperor, Freyer's Purple Emperor, Poplar Admiral and Hungarian Glider, a set of forest butterflies few other European countries can match.
The endemics are the prize for visiting naturalists. Crete has the Cretan Festoon, Cretan Argus, Cretan Grayling and Cretan Small Heath; the Peloponnese has the Taygetos Blue, Grecian Grayling and Chelmos race of the anomalous blues; the Rhodopes have Dils' Grayling; and the Timfristos Blue was described from a single mountain in central Greece. Brown's Grayling (Pseudochazara amymone), known from a few valleys in Epirus and southern Albania, is one of the rarest butterflies in Europe.
The Greek butterfly calendar
Greece has butterflies in every month. In the far south, on Crete, Rhodes and around Athens, the Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Clouded Yellow, Small White, Wall Brown and Lang's Short-tailed Blue fly on warm days in January. The season proper begins in March with the festoons, False Apollo, Eastern Dappled White and Green Hairstreak, and in wet years with the Painted Lady migration, when millions of butterflies that bred in North Africa and the Middle East cross the Aegean heading north; the spring of 2019 saw one of the largest such flights ever recorded. Our guide to butterfly migration explains how they find their way.
May and June are the best months in the lowlands and islands, when the blues, fritillaries, marbled whites, Cleopatra, Scarce Swallowtail and the first Two-tailed Pashas fly together before the summer drought browns the hills. By July the coast is quiet and the mountains take over: the Apollo, ringlets, brassy ringlets, graylings, Balkan Fritillary and the anomalous blues fly on Olympus, the Pindus, Chelmos and Taygetos into August, often massed at damp ground and mountain springs. Autumn brings the second Two-tailed Pasha brood, the Plain Tiger and Long-tailed Blue from the south-east, and Clouded Yellows and Painted Ladies into November; see our guide to the butterfly season.
Where to see butterflies in Greece
The most famous "butterfly" site in Greece, the Valley of the Butterflies at Petaloudes on Rhodes, is actually a moth spectacle: tens of thousands of Jersey Tiger moths rest on the shaded rocks and sweetgum trunks from June to September. For butterflies, head for the mountains and the northern forests.
- Mount Olympus National Park — the classic site: Apollo, Balkan Fritillary, ringlets and graylings above the tree line in July, with Cleopatra and Southern White Admiral in the gorges below.
- Vikos-Aoos and the Zagori villages, Epirus — limestone gorges and alpine meadows on Mount Tymfi with more than 100 species in June and July.
- Prespa and the Rhodope mountains — Dils' Grayling on Mount Falakro, Freyer's Purple Emperor and Poplar Admiral along the Nestos and Evros rivers, and the Dadia forest.
- Mount Chelmos and Taygetos, Peloponnese — the Taygetos Blue, Grecian Grayling and the Chelmos anomalous blues in July.
- Crete: the White Mountains, Psiloritis and the Samaria Gorge — all four Cretan endemics in May and June, and butterflies on the coast all winter.
Greece shares its northern butterflies with Bulgaria and its eastern islands' fauna with Turkey, where many Aegean species have their main range.
Host plants and butterfly gardening in Greece
A Greek garden that wants butterflies has to work with the dry summer rather than against it, planting native shrubs and herbs that feed caterpillars and flower in spring and autumn. Our guide to butterfly host plants gives the principle; these are the Greek choices.
- Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) — Two-tailed Pasha, the one shrub every Mediterranean butterfly garden should have.
- Fennel, rue and giant fennel — Old World Swallowtail; almond, blackthorn and hawthorn — Scarce Swallowtail.
- Birthwort (Aristolochia) — the festoons and the False Apollo.
- Nettle — Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Comma and Map.
- Buckthorn and alder buckthorn — Cleopatra and Brimstone; honeysuckle — Southern White Admiral.
- Bird's-foot trefoil, horseshoe vetch and sainfoin — Common, Adonis, Chalkhill and Mazarine Blues.
- Wild thyme — the Large Blue, which also needs Myrmica ants; mallow and hollyhock — Mallow Skipper.
For nectar, thyme, oregano, sage, lavender, scabious and bramble carry a garden through the summer, and a dish of overripe figs will bring pashas and emperors down to feed.
Rare and threatened butterflies in Greece
Greece has no national Red List for butterflies, but several of its species are protected under the EU Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention: the Apollo, False Apollo, Eastern and Southern Festoons, Large Blue, Marsh Fritillary, Freyer's Purple Emperor and Hungarian Glider among them. The European Red List rates Brown's Grayling and Dils' Grayling as threatened because each survives at a handful of sites, and the Cretan endemics, the Taygetos Blue and the Timfristos Blue are vulnerable simply because their whole world range is a single island or mountain.
The threats are the familiar Mediterranean ones. Abandonment of mountain grazing lets meadows scrub over and removes the short turf that Apollos, blues and graylings need, while overgrazing in other ranges strips the flowers away; coastal building has destroyed dune and scrub habitat on the islands; ski developments on Parnassos and Chelmos sit on top of endemic butterfly sites; and the wildfires of 2007, 2021 and 2023, the last of which burned much of the Dadia forest, destroyed some of the best butterfly forests in the country.
Butterflies found in Greece
232 species listed for Greece, grouped by family. Linked names have a full profile on this site with pictures of every life stage.
Brush-Footed (Nymphalidae)
Polygonia c-albumComma (Polygonia c-album)The comma (Polygonia c-album) is a medium-sized orange-and-brown butterfly of woodland edges, hedgerows and gardens across Europe, North Africa and te
Nymphalis antiopaMourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)The mourning cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) is a large dark butterfly of woodland, riverbank and suburb across North America and temperate Eurasia, and notVanessa carduiPainted Lady (Vanessa cardui)No other butterfly lives on so much of the planet.
Aglais ioPeacock (Aglais io)Four huge eyespots on a rust-red ground make the peacock one of the most recognisable butterflies in Europe.Apatura irisPurple Emperor (Apatura iris)The purple emperor spends most of its short adult life in the tops of oak trees, drinking honeydew and picking fights, and the famous purple is not a 
Vanessa atalantaRed Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)The red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a medium-sized blackish butterfly marked with one bright orange-red band across each forewing and a scatter of w
Erebia epiphronMountain Ringlet (Erebia epiphron)A small, sooty butterfly with a chain of orange spots, the mountain ringlet lives higher than any other butterfly in Britain and spends its brief adul
Aglais urticaeSmall Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)Orange-red with a black-and-yellow chequered front edge and a rim of blue crescents, the small tortoiseshell is the butterfly that turns up on a gardeShow all 91 other brush-footed species names
- African Ringlet (Ypthima asterope)
- Balkan Fritillary (Boloria graeca)
- Balkan Grayling (Hipparchia senthes)
- Balkan Marbled White (Melanargia larissa)
- Black Ringlet (Erebia melas)
- Bright Eyed Ringlet (Erebia oeme)
- Buff Asian Grayling (Pseudochazara amymone)
- Cardinal (Argynnis pandora)
- Chestnut Heath (Coenonympha glycerion)
- Common Brassy Ringlet (Erebia cassioides)
- Dark Green Fritillary (Speyeria aglaja)
- Dark Rock Brown (Chazara briseis)
- Delattin's Grayling (Hipparchia volgensis)
- Dils' Grayling (Pseudochazara orestes)
- Dryad (Minois dryas)
- Dusky Meadow Brown (Hyponephele lycaon)
- Eastern Large Heath (Coenonympha rhodopensis)
- Esper's Marbled White (Melanargia russiae)
- European Nettle-tree Butterfly (Libythea celtis)
- False Grayling (Arethusana arethusa)
- Freyer's Fritillary (Melitaea arduinna)
- Freyer's Grayling (Hipparchia fatua)
- Freyer's Purple Emperor (Apatura metis)
- Geyer's Skipper (Pseudochazara geyeri)
- Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia)
- Great Banded Grayling (Brintesia circe)
- Great Sooty Satyr (Satyrus ferula)
- Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia)
- Hedge Brown (Pyronia tithonus)
- High Brown Fritillary (Fabriciana adippe)
- Hungarian Glider (Neptis rivularis)
- Iranian Argus (Kirinia climene)
- Large Ringlet (Erebia euryale)
- Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros)
- Large Wall Brown (Lasiommata maera)
- Lesser Purple Emperor (Apatura ilia)
- Lesser Spotted Frillitary (Melitaea trivia)
- Macedonian Grayling (Pseudochazara cingovskii)
- Map (Araschnia levana)
- Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis daphne)
- Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)
- Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia)
- Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
- Meadow Ringlet (Erebia ligea)
- Nichol's Ringlet (Erebia rhodopensis)
- Nickerl's Fritillary (Melitaea aurelia)
- Niobe Fritillary (Fabriciana niobe)
- Northern Wall Brown (Lasiommata petropolitana)
- Oriental Heath Fritillary (Coenonympha orientalis)
- Hipparchia syriaca
- Ottoman Brassy Ringlet (Erebia ottomana)
- Pallas' Sailer (Neptis sappho)
- Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne)
- Pearly Heath (Coenonympha arcania)
- Phoebe Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe)
- Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus)
- Poplar Admiral (Limenitis populi)
- Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia)
- Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
- Roxelana's Grayling (Kirinia roxelana)
- Russian Heath (Coenonympha leander)
- Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops)
- Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)
- Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)
- Southern Comma (Polygonia egea)
- Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia)
- Southern Marbled Skipper (Hyponephele lupinus)
- Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta)
- Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
- Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)
- Tree Grayling (Hipparchia statilinus)
- Turkish Meadow Brown (Maniola telmessia)
- Twin-spot Fritillary (Brenthis hecate)
- Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius)
- Violet Frillitary (Boloria dia)
- Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)
- White Admiral (Limenitis camilla)
- Woodland Grayling (Hipparchia fagi)
- Woodland Ringlet (Erebia medusa)
- Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis xanthomelas)
- Coenonympha thyrsis
- Hipparchia christenseni
- Hipparchia cretica
- Hipparchia mersina
- Hipparchia pellucida
- Maniola chia
- Maniola halicarnassus
- Maniola megala
- Proterebia afra
- Pseudochazara anthelea
- Pseudochazara graeca
Gossamer-Winged (Lycaenidae)
Polyommatus bellargusAdonis Blue (Polyommatus bellargus)The Adonis blue is a small butterfly of warm chalk and limestone grassland in Europe and western Asia, where the male's brilliant sky-blue wings and b
Polyommatus icarusCommon Blue (Polyommatus Icarus)The common blue is a small grassland butterfly of Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia in which the male is violet-blue above and the female mostly
Callophrys rubiGreen Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi)The only butterfly in Europe with plain green undersides, the green hairstreak spends its whole adult life with its wings shut, so the brown upperside
Celastrina argiolusHolly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)The holly blue is the small silvery-blue butterfly that flies round the tops of hedges and ivy-covered walls in spring, well above the height of every
Phengaris arionLarge Blue (Phengaris arion)The large blue (Phengaris arion) is the biggest of Europe's blue butterflies, a bright blue insect with a row of bold black forewing spots that lives 
Polyommatus semiargusMazarine Blue (Polyommatus semiargus)A small, deep violet-blue butterfly of old hay meadows, the mazarine blue is best known for what it lacks: there is not a single orange mark on its pl
Neozephyrus quercusPurple Hairstreak (Neozephyrus quercus)The purple hairstreak is a small silvery-grey butterfly of oak woodland across Europe, North Africa and western Asia, and it is identified in flight b
Cupido minimusSmall Blue (Cupido minimus)The small blue is Britain's smallest butterfly, a sooty brown insect barely an inch across that lives in tight colonies on chalk and limestone grassla
Lycaena phlaeasCommon Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)The common copper (Lycaena phlaeas), known as the small copper in Europe and the American copper in North America, is a small, fast-flying butterfly oShow all 61 other gossamer-winged species names
- Alcon Blue (Phengaris alcon)
- Amanda's Blue (Polyommatus amandus)
- Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus admetus)
- Balkan Blue (Agriades dardanus)
- Bavius Blue (Pseudophilotes bavius)
- Black Hairstreak (Satyrium pruni)
- Blue Argus (Aricia anteros)
- Blue-spot Hairstreak (Satyrium spini)
- Brown Argus (Aricia agestis)
- Brown Hairstreak (Thecla betulae)
- Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra coridon)
- Chapman's Blue (Polyommatus thersites)
- Damon Blue (Polyommatus damon)
- Dark Grass Blue (Zizeeria karsandra)
- Dorylas Blue (Polyommatus dorylas)
- Eastern Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes vicrama)
- Eastern Brown Argus (Kretania eurypilus)
- Eastern Short-tailed Blue (Cupido decolorata)
- Eros Blue (Polyommatus eros)
- Escher's Blue (Polyommatus escheri)
- Geranium Argus (Eumedonia eumedon)
- Golden Copper (Lycaena thetis)
- Grass Jewel (Freyeria trochylus)
- Grecian Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus aroaniensis)
- Grecian Copper (Lycaena ottomanus)
- Green-underside Blue (Glaucopsyche alexis)
- Higgins's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus nephohiptamenos)
- Idas Blue (Plebejus idas)
- Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium ilicis)
- Iolas Blue (Iolana iolas)
- Kolev's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus orphicus)
- Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous)
- Large copper (Lycaena dispar)
- Large Jewel Blue (Plebejidea loewii)
- Lesser Fiery Copper (Lycaena thersamon)
- Little Tiger Pierrot (Tarucus balkanica)
- Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus)
- Meleager's Blue (Polyommatus daphnis)
- Northern Brown Argus (Aricia artaxerxes)
- Odd-spot Blue (Turanana panagea)
- Orange Banded Hairstreak (Satyrium ledereri)
- Orion Blue (Scolitantides orion)
- Osiris Blue (Cupido osiris)
- Provençal Short-tailed Blue (Cupido alcetas)
- Purple-shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron)
- Reverdin's Blue (Plebejus argyrognomon)
- Ripart's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus ripartii)
- Scarce Copper (Lycaena virgaureae)
- Short-tailed Blue (Cupido argiades)
- Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus)
- Sloe Hairstreak (Satyrium acaciae)
- Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus)
- White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album)
- Kretania psylorita
- Kretania sephirus
- Lycaena candens
- Neolysandra coelestina
- Polyommatus andronicus
- Polyommatus iphigenia
- Polyommatus timfristos
- Turanana taygetica
Whites and Sulphurs (Pieridae)
Pieris rapaeCabbage White (Pieris rapae)The cabbage white is probably the most-seen butterfly on the planet: a small, chalk-white insect with one or two black spots that drifts over allotmen
Colias croceusClouded Yellow (Colias croceus)The clouded yellow (Colias croceus) is a fast, low-flying golden-orange butterfly of open grassland, breeding around the Mediterranean and North Afric
Gonepteryx rhamniBrimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni)The brimstone is a large, leaf-shaped yellow butterfly of woodland edges, hedgerows and gardens across Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia, and th
Pieris napiGreen-veined White (Pieris napi)The green-veined white (Pieris napi) is a medium-sized white butterfly of damp meadows, woodland rides, hedgerows and stream banks across Europe, Nort
Anthocharis cardaminesOrange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines)The orange-tip is a small white butterfly of damp meadows, hedgerows, woodland rides and gardens across Europe and temperate Asia, and the male's defiPieris rapaeCabbage White (Pieris rapae)The cabbage white is probably the most-seen butterfly on the planet: a small, chalk-white insect with one or two black spots that drifts over allotmenShow all 19 other whites and sulphurs species names
- Balkan Clouded Yellow (Colias caucasica)
- Berger's Clouded Yellow (Colias alfacariensis)
- Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi)
- Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra)
- Eastern Bath White (Pontia edusa)
- Eastern Dappled White (Euchloe ausonia)
- Eastern Greenish Black-tip (Euchloe penia)
- Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias erate)
- Eastern Wood White (Leptidea duponcheli)
- Greek Clouded Butterfly (Colias aurorina)
- Green-underside White (Anthocharis gruneri)
- Krüper's Small White (Pieris krueperi)
- Lesser Bath White (Pontia chloridice)
- Persian White (Pieris ergane)
- Powdered Brimstone (Gonepteryx farinosa)
- Southern Small White (Pieris mannii)
- Wood White (Leptidea sinapis)
- Eastern Orange Tip (Anthocharis damone)
- Pieris balcana
Metalmark (Riodinidae)
- Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina)
Swallowtail (Papilionidae)
Parnassius apolloApollo (Parnassius apollo)A large white mountain butterfly with black forewing spots and red, white-pupilled eyespots on the hindwings, the apollo is the emblem of European alp
Papilio machaonOld World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)The Old World swallowtail is a large yellow-and-black butterfly with a tail on each hindwing and a red eyespot above it, found right across Europe, NoIphiclides podaliriusScarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius)A cream-coloured swallowtail striped like a tiger and tailed like a sail, the scarce swallowtail is one of the great gliders of the European butterfly- Alexandra's Swallowtail (Papilio alexanor)
- Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne)
- Eastern Festoon (Zerynthia cerisy)
- Southern Festoon (Zerynthia polyxena)
- False Apollo (Archon apollinus)
- Zerynthia cretica
Skipper (Hesperiidae)
Show all 27 other skipper species names
- Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae)
- Tufted Skipper (Carcharodus floccifera)
- Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae)
- Oriental Skipper (Carcharodus orientalis)
- Stauder's Clouded Yellow (Carcharodus stauderi)
- Chequered Skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon)
- Inky Skipper (Erynnis marloyi)
- Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages)
- Dingy Swift (Gegenes nostrodamus)
- Pygmy Skipper (Gegenes pumilio)
- Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma)
- Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto)
- Tessellated Skipper (Muschampia tessellum)
- Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)
- Pale Small-branded Swift (Pelopidas thrax)
- Large Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus alveus)
- Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus armoricanus)
- Safflower Skipper (Pyrgus carthami)
- Sandy-grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus cinarae)
- Olive Skipper (Pyrgus serratulae)
- Yellow-banded Skipper (Pyrgus sidae)
- Hungaria Skipper (Spialia orbifer)
- Persian Skipper (Spialia phlomidis)
- Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon)
- Levantine Skipper (Thymelicus hyrax)
- European Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)
- Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
Migrants, vagrants and the doubtful names
Greece's position at the south-eastern corner of Europe means a steady arrival of butterflies from Africa and Asia. The Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Clouded Yellow are the regular migrants; the Plain Tiger, an African milkweed butterfly, breeds in the south and on the islands in some years and reaches as far north as Thessaloniki; the Long-tailed Blue, Lang's Short-tailed Blue and Dark Grass Blue move north each summer; and the African Ringlet, Little Tiger Pierrot and Grass Jewel are Afrotropical and Asian species with tiny footholds on the southern islands. Anatolian butterflies such as the Iranian Argus, Persian White and Turkish Meadow Brown occur only on the eastern islands.
Two names on the chart are mislabelled: the "Southern Marbled Skipper" among the brush-foots is the Oriental Meadow Brown, Hyponephele lupinus, and "Geyer's Skipper" is the Grey Asian Grayling, Pseudochazara geyeri. The country guides for the rest of Europe show which species are widespread and which are Greek specialities.
Frequently asked questions about Greek butterflies
How many butterfly species are there in Greece?
About 235 butterfly species have been recorded in Greece, one of the four or five richest national lists in Europe, behind only Italy, France and Spain. The total is high because the country combines Mediterranean coast, high limestone mountains and long-isolated islands, and because Balkan, Anatolian and African species all reach the edge of their ranges here.
Which butterflies are found only in Greece?
Greece has around a dozen endemic butterflies. Crete has four: the Cretan Festoon, Cretan Argus, Cretan Grayling and Cretan Small Heath. The Peloponnese has the Taygetos Blue and Grecian Grayling, the Rhodope mountains have Dils' Grayling, and the Timfristos Blue is known from one mountain in central Greece. Brown's Grayling is shared only with southern Albania.
When is the best time to see butterflies in Greece?
May and June are the best months in the lowlands and on the islands, when the largest number of species fly before the summer drought. In the mountains the peak shifts to July and early August, when the Apollo, ringlets and graylings are out. In the far south, on Crete and Rhodes, some butterflies fly in every month of the year.
What is the most common butterfly family in Greece?
The brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae) are the largest family in Greece, with nearly 100 species, most of them browns: graylings, ringlets, heaths, marbled whites and meadow browns, plus the fritillaries, admirals and emperors. The blues, coppers and hairstreaks (Lycaenidae) come second with around 70 species, many of them anomalous blues of the mountains.
What fritillaries live in Greece?
About 25 fritillaries occur in Greece, including the Silver-washed, Cardinal, Dark Green, High Brown, Niobe and Queen of Spain Fritillaries, the Marbled, Twin-spot, Pearl-bordered and Balkan Fritillaries, and a set of Melitaea species such as the Glanville, Spotted, Heath, Lesser Spotted, Phoebe, Nickerl's and Freyer's Fritillaries. The Marsh Fritillary is protected under the EU Habitats Directive.
Which migratory butterflies reach Greece?
The Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Clouded Yellow migrate into Greece every spring from North Africa and the Middle East, and the Painted Lady flights of 2019 were among the largest ever recorded. The Plain Tiger, Long-tailed Blue, Lang's Short-tailed Blue and Dark Grass Blue move north from the south-east in summer and autumn, breeding in the islands and the south.
What is the Valley of the Butterflies on Rhodes?
Petaloudes, the Valley of the Butterflies, is a shaded stream valley on Rhodes where tens of thousands of Jersey Tiger moths gather from June to September to rest through the summer heat on the rocks and sweetgum trees. Despite its name the spectacle is made by moths, not butterflies, and visitors are asked not to disturb them, because every flight uses up stored fat.
How do you identify the Great Banded Grayling?
The Great Banded Grayling is one of the largest browns in Greece, dark blackish-brown with a broad white band running across both wings, and it usually rests with its wings closed on tree trunks or bare ground, where the band and its small eyespot are still visible. It flies in July and August in open woodland and scrub from sea level to the mountains.
What is the largest butterfly in Greece?
The Two-tailed Pasha, with a wingspan of up to about 90 mm, is the largest Greek butterfly and the only European member of the tropical genus Charaxes. It flies in two broods, May to June and August to October, around strawberry trees on the coast and islands, and feeds on rotting fruit and sap rather than flowers. The Old World Swallowtail and Cardinal are almost as large.
Which Greek butterflies are protected or endangered?
The Apollo, False Apollo, Eastern and Southern Festoons, Large Blue, Marsh Fritillary, Freyer's Purple Emperor and Hungarian Glider are protected under the EU Habitats Directive and the Bern Convention. Brown's Grayling, known from a few valleys in Epirus, and Dils' Grayling of the Rhodope mountains are among the most threatened butterflies in Europe, and the Cretan endemics are vulnerable because of their tiny ranges.
Published November 2, 2023 · Last updated September 21, 2026